About the Editor

Carlos da Silva Campos.

Professional journalist, with background on the economical press and Packaging Editor since 1982, heading independent magazines REVIPACK (packaging), REVIPLAST (plastics) and REVIPROJECT (automation).
Lawyer since 1984 and and Packaging Consultant since 1986, working for several industry associations related to packaging and recycling. Honorary Member of IPPO - the International Packaging Press Organisation. Served as Vice-President (1996-1999) and Chairman (1999-2002).

Embalcer, the only Portuguese company producing plastic strap, invested 3 M€ in a new PET strapping extrusion line, reinforcing its position as one of the main European industries in this area. This investment allows Embalcer to duplicate its production capacity, to reinforce its response ability with short delivery time and to present new references and new products to replace the stainless steel strapping. New references include strapping with 19, 25 and 32 mm width (tensioning capacity up to 1500kg) for average/high loads for application in industries such as wood and furniture, ceramics, bricks and tiles, blocks and paver, corrugated, paper, aluminum profiles among others. Embalcer has a strong position as a strategic partner in the packaging area, providing complete strapping solutions (strap, equipment ans service), and otlher end of line solutions for all kind of industries. Embalcer will exhibiting in INTERPACK next May.

The production of aluminium aerosol cans worldwide remained stable at a high level in 2015. The member companies of AEROBAL (International Organisation of Aluminium Aerosol Container Manufacturers) reported total production of 5.4 thousand million aluminium cans and thus a repeat of the previous year’s record result.

AEROBAL’s secretary general Gregor Spengler is very pleased with the result: “Repeating 2014’s record is a rather good achievement considering the very difficult conditions in 2015; with economic turmoil in China, Russia and some emerging countries, the enduring problems in Greece, Ukraine and above all the Middle East, the global uncertainty resulting from the development of the oil price, and some considerable fluctuations in exchange rates. It demonstrates the strong capabilities of our member companies and the aluminium aerosol can’s excellent position in the fiercely competitive global packaging market.”

Production in Europe and the USA, the dominant markets in terms of volume, was more or less at the previous year’s level. Australia also remained stable, whereas volumes in Africa declined slightly. Slight overall gains were reported in Asia and Central and South America, although some Asian and South American markets fell short of expectations.

The body care products market accounted for the lion’s share of all cans produced, being unchanged at almost 80 per cent. The household products sector is now responsible for over 10 per cent of total production thanks to pleasing growth figures.

There are also other developments that definitely give cause for taking a positive view of the future. AEROBAL president Eric Frantz (CCL) points to new applications and improved production processes: “For example, innovative valve systems now enable aerosol cans to be filled with hair dyes. The aerosol principle offers outstanding opportunities to expand markets anyway; together with aluminium’s outstanding barrier and hygiene properties this will doubtlessly bear further fruit in the pharma market, too.”

This willingness to invest is an indication of the generally positive expectations at AEROBAL, which is cautiously optimistic for 2016.

EU 28+2 recycled 6.3m tonnes, 39.5%, of its 15.9m tonnes plastic packaging waste in 2014, easily surpassing the EU’s minimum target of 22.5%. According to EPRO, the end destinations were as follows:

Recycling: 39,5% Energy recovery: 38,5% Landfill: 22,0%

The recycling rate for plastic packaging rose from 34.7% in 2012 to 39.5% in 2014. Except for Malta, all the EU 28+ 2 countries in 2014 exceeded the EU minimum targets of 22.5% recycling. 24 countries (19 in 2012) recycled more than 30%, 12 countries even surpassed 40%. In 2014, Czech Republic ranked on the top with a recycling rate of 52.1% followed by Germany, Slovenia, Sweden and Ireland.

64% of the post-consumer plastic packaging waste is generated from households, the remaining 36%, comes from the trade/ industry segment. The recycling rate for trade and industry sector reached 42.8% (37.6% in 2012), while recycling for the households segment obtained 37.7% (33%).

The following EPRO countries include all kinds of plastic packaging in their collection schemes for households: Germany, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, either in a separate plastics fraction or together with other lightweight packaging (yellow bin). In other countries like Austria and UK, some parts of the country collect all plastic packaging while other regions concentrate on just rigid plastic packaging. Germany, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have in addition a deposit system for most of the beverage bottles. In Belgium, France and Switzerland, the EPR- systems focus on rigid plastics (bottles), but France is about to expand, step by step, the scope of the system to comprise all plastic packaging. How to sort, recycle and recover mixed streams of plastic packaging is a key topic for EPRO working groups. In addition, design for recycling is also a key issue for EPRO.

Energy recovery hit 38.5% in 2014 (34.5% in 2012). In total 78.0% (72.5%) of all plastic packaging waste was recovered in 2014, the balance going to landfills and incineration without energy recovery; 3.5m tonnes of plastic packaging ended in landfills last year.

There are still big differences on energy recovery results within Europe. Ten countries energy recovered more than 50% of their plastic packaging waste in 2014 and obtained all a total recovery rate (recycling + energy recovery) above 90%. This means that less than 10% was landfilled in these countries. At the other end of the ranking list, we find a couple of countries that still does not energy recover any plastic waste. Ten countries landfilled more than 40% of their plastic packaging waste, among them Spain with 41%.

The recycling result for packaging of 39.5% is better than for other plastic applications. The overall recycling rate for plastics reached 29.7% in 2014. While 40% of all plastic products put on the market are packaging, packaging contributes by 62% to all plastic waste generated and as much as 81% to all plastics recycled. 7.7m tonnes of plastic waste were recycled in 2014, of which 6.3m tonnes packaging. Packaging thus lift the average recycling rates for all plastics in Europe, EPRO says.

In 2014, the agriculture sector generated 1.4m tonnes of post-consumer non-packaging plastic waste. This equals 5% of all plastic waste generated within EU28+2. In 2014, 28.0% (26.4%) of this was recycled, while 31.1% (28.4 %) was energy recovered. The rest, 40.9% (45.2%) went to landfill.

Economic, lifestyle changes and the focus on sustainable packaging will drive market growth by 5.4% annually during the period 2016-21 to $44.8 billion, according to a new report by Smithers Pira. In "The Future of Labels and Release Liners to 2021" Smithers Pira’s analysis shows label market growth is being driven by economic, social, demographic and lifestyle changes, brand owners’ increasing focus on source reduction and sustainable packaging, consumer demand for convenience food, and the growing presence of large retail chains. Label market demand is also being driven by the relatively low cost with which labelling can be replaced or changed; and a continuing need for barcodes and other secondary packaging applications that support food safety and pharmaceutical compliance issues.

Drinks markets are dominating label consumption; alcoholic drinks are the main end-use market for labels, accounting for a projected 27.5% share of global label consumption in 2016. The alcoholic drinks market growth is supported by the booming hospitality and tourism industries in large cities, the influence of western culture on young people in emerging economies, and increasing disposable incomes among the growing middle class in Asia.

“The outlook for label market growth will be negatively influenced by an expectation of moderate global economic growth over the forecast period.” states Dan Rogers, head of publishing at Smithers Pira. “The emerging and developing economies are forecast to grow at twice the rate of advanced countries and offer the best opportunities for label market growth.”

The growing trend for sustainability in packaging and labelling means linerless labelling systems are gaining in popularity, because they eliminate the need for non-recyclable release liners, and the absence of backing material means that reel changes are quicker and easier. Linerless technology also provides full-colour, high-end graphics, together with the option to print on the back of the label for promotional, coupon and instructional applications. Linerless labels also eliminate waste and reduce cost associated with label production.

For more information about this report, click HERE or sent an email to Julie Bostock.

After a significant slowdown in the late 2000s, the global market for metal packaging has recovered its growth with the highest rates registered in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In its new report, Smithers Pira estimates the market will grow by around 3% in 2016 to reach $106 million, driven mainly by increasing demand for metal packaging in emerging and transitional economies at a time when demand in more mature markets is likely remain flat. Going forward, the global market metal packaging is forecast to grow at an annual average rate of 4% to reach 128 million USD by 2021.

In terms of global trade, many developing countries such as China, India and Brazil have long been associated with significant manufacture and international exports, providing goods for the world, but not consuming them domestically. This is no longer the case.

After the excellent annual result in 2015 with an increase of 10.9% and in total over 100m EPAL pallets, 73.6m of which were newly produced EPAL Euro pallets, the upward trend is continuing in the first quarter of 2016: 18.3m EPAL Euro pallets were produced worldwide: an increase of 5.1% compared to the previous-year period. Repairs figures increased slightly on the previous year with 6.1m EPAL pallets repaired. Martin Leibrandt, CEO of the European Pallet Association e.V. (EPAL): “This excellent result for the first quarter of 2016 shows the high efficiency of the EPAL Euro pallet in logistics and the high acceptance rate of the EPAL system, the largest open exchange pool worldwide. In addition to this, is the outstanding work of the National Committees, our success in fighting against EPAL-pallet counterfeiting and support for users through effective tools such as the PalletCheck Express App, the quality classification and the EPAL Academy.”

Transparent barrier films are replacing traditional materials such as flexible foil for various applications due to consumer demand for packaging transparency, feasibility and use of metal detectors and microwave ovens. According to The Future of Transparent Barrier Films versus Barrier Foil to 2021 – a new report from Smithers Pira, global demand for transparent barrier films is forecast to grow at an annual average rate of 3.9% reaching 1.9 million tonnes in 2021. Apparent consumption of flexible aluminium foil packaging is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 2.5% per year reaching almost 3.0 million tonnes by 2021.